The Chronicles of Raidou Kuzunoha XVI
by Sweetbrier
Summary: The reign of the greatest Raidou of all times has ended two generations ago. This time, his great-grandson, bear the name of Raidou Kuzunoha XVI succeeded his great-grandfather's duty and will to protect the Capital. WARNING: MANY OCS! I've warned you.
1. Prologue

**CHAPTER 1: PROLOGUE**

_Yumizuki High School—Tokyo, 2011._

The classroom filled with student chattering, sometimes laughing or whispering. With a loud voice, they used most of their time gossiping about the rumors going on around the school recently. The boy who sat on the desk started mass-discussing about the rumors when his mouth spouted some of them. At first, they only stared at him, talking to his own companion. But slowly, the rest of the class drew closer to his desk curiously. They circled around the boy who started yapping.

"So," he clears his throat. "do you guys know about the big cherry blossom tree on the school ground? The one with the _shide_ on it? They say if you come to the school at 2 o'clock in the morning and stand below the tree, your wish will come true especially if it is related to love!"

"But there's no way you can get in to the school ground, they locked the gate." A female student asked him. Her tone somehow mixed with enthusiastic and hesitation. The boy turned his eyes at her and smirked, moving his index finger as if telling her something like you-don't-know-something-so-basic.

"You just have to climb the gate and jump." He smirked wider—and more devilish. "You don't even understand something like that? Don't you know the term no pain no gain? Take and give? You gotta sacrifice something to gain another!"

"C-climb?" Another girl with two-braided hair seems startled. "I-is that the only way to get access to the tree?"

"What, class-rep, you actually interested in these kind of things? Well, let me guess. Are you perhaps," the boy paused, placed his thumb and index finger below his chin with the look of an observing detective. "in love? _That _ class-rep? There's no way, right?"

He burst out laughing, followed with others. The class-rep blushed. "A-anyway," she said, trying to make the mob stop their burst of laughing. "the bell is about to start. I do not think that this is the right time or place to discuss such nonsense."

The class muttered something to each other before going back to their seat. The door slides open when a middle-aged man walked in. He placed one of his hands on the desk while his other hand opened a slim book and started calling the student's name for attendance.

"Konno."

"Here."

"Koizumi."

"Here."

"Kurogane."

There is silence for a moment. He looked up, looking at the empty back seat near the window. "Kurogane, he is not here?" he wrote something on the book. "That brat, how dare he skipped school for three days in a row? I called his home and his father answered, saying that he caught a cold. Nonsense! A dumb will never catch a cold! Who will believe such things? I thought about going to his house but his house is just so damn big—I bet the rumors that going on about their family is a yakuza is actually true—"

"We are not yakuzas."

"Hah, who will believe that—WAH! K-K-Kurogane! Since when you were here?" The teacher gasped, felt like he almost had a heart attack when a tall boy with a black military cap covered his head stood besides him without he realizing it.

"Just a while ago." He said. "Were you calling my name? That means I'm safe, right?"

"What safe! You brat!" The teacher yelled and pointed his finger at him. "Where were you these past days? I want an explanation!"

"I was sick." He answered calmly.

"Like I'd believe that crap!" The teacher hissed. "Go to your seat! Geez, kids these days…"

Nozomu Kurogane walked to his seat, placed himself on his chair, ignoring the others' glance. Oh well, he is used to it anyway. People would look at him as if he is some kind of rare animal with that so-called _stranger look_.

Like he'd care.

"So you make it on time this time?"

Nozomu shifted his stare to a red, short-haired girl who sits beside him. She's holding a book in front of her face so the teacher wouldn't notice that she's actually talking to him. She had two hair pins on her left side hair and a sheepish smile on her face. "Were you really sick, though?"

He showed her a faint smile on his face. "Kind of."

"What is the meaning of _kind of_ in this case? Were you sick or not?" She demanded an absolute answer from him.

"Shut up, Tsucchi."

"How many times should I tell you not to call me Tsucchi?" She unconsciously sits up and slammed her desk. The whole class turned their eyes at her, pierced her with a curious look in their eyes. She looked down and her cheek became flustered when she apologized. She sat back down to her seat quietly but she didn't forget to throw Nozomu a killer glare before she turned her face away from him.

"Hey, Tsucchi." She didn't budge when Nozomu tried to call her. He placed his palm under his chin, yawned and slowly closed his eyes. "Hey, Tsucchi. I'm calling you—fuah." He repeated, still trying to make her turn his way.

_No good_, he thought. _Maybe she's angry for real this time._

"Hey, Tsubasa."

Finally, the girl called Tsubasa shifted her eyes to him. "What do you want?"

"Geez, you don't have to act so cold." Nozomu yawned. "Lend me your notebook."

"Like I'd let you borrow it."

"Is that how you treat your childhood friend?"

"Don't be such a hyperbolic. We knew each other when we were 5th grader."

"How many years have passed since that time?" Nozomu raised his index finger and pointed it in the middle of his forehead. "Isn't it something like five, six years ago? Wow, we've known each other for quite a long time."

Tsubasa sighed and twirled the pencil on her fingers. Her red hair moves a little bit when she tilted her head. "Well," she sighed again. "You claimed that we are childhood friend but you said that you didn't even realize that we've befriended each other for six years long? But anyway, I'm amazed you still keep that old-fashioned cap of yours. Didn't you tell me it was something your great-grandfather gave you?"

"Ah, this." Nozomu lowered the black cap that covered his ruffled, brown hair. "This is my great-grandfather, my grandpa, and my treasure. Of course I still keep it."

"Heeh, your great-grandfather, your grandfather and yours—wait, did you forget to include your dad?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't 'what are you talking about' me. Father is the one after grandfather! I'm not that idiot! Well, that's true I failed almost all of my exams but I did pass one, or two. The truth is it's two!"

"Well, this is not a treasure… for my old man." Nozomu lifted the cap a little bit with his thumb. He gazed off the distance without really having anything to look at. "That's why I didn't include his position, it's because he has nothing to do with this."

"… How?"

Nozomu smirked when Tsubasa asked that simple, yet to the point—_how_.

"It is because…"

It is because you don't know a thing.

"Yeah?" Tsubasa stared at Nozomu, filled with curiosity in her eyes.

It is because you don't know about me, or about what I'm doing up until now.

"Because I said so."

The truth is, you don't even know _what _I am.

She looked at Nozomu with an unpredictable look. She clenched her teeth and palm together at the same time, ready to deliver a blow right on Nozomu's—well, some kind of handsome face. But she didn't move from her desk, maybe she's thinking about saving it for later.

"You don't look like you were sick at all." She said finally after calmed down a little bit, leaned her back on her chair. "Were you really sick these past few days?"

"Didn't you ask me the same question just a while ago?"

"You don't have to tell me if you really don't want to." Tsubasa shrugged and turned away.

Nozomu smirked, and then lowered his cap to hide his eyes. He closed them and concentrating his aura, letting the brim of his cap covered him so that no one realized of what he's doing. He opened his eyes a little and he could see a lime colored aura made an impact to the ground behind him when he whispered something—no one even realized anything when the ground shake a little bit because of the impact.

"We meet again, master."

A sweet, mature woman voice echoed. Nozomu glanced behind his shoulder but he didn't say anything. Even with just a faint smirk, the silver-haired woman nods and disappeared from his view. He turned his gaze outside the window. To be exact, to something that caught his attention.

A cherry tree.

The bell rang shortly after that. Tsubasa got up from her chair and walked towards Nozomu. That 17-years old boy still didn't turn his gaze away from the window. She tilted her head to see what he's actually looking at and spotted the cherry tree.

"Were you looking at the tree?"

"Yeah…"

"Why?" She asked. "Do you have someone you like?"

Nozomu raised an eyebrow when she asked. How is that even related to each other? Some girl's only myth—pah. Tsubasa furrowed, looking at him with the same weird face as he shows her. "You don't know about the legend?"

So it _is _a legend.

"No," he answered. "What kind of legend?"

"I don't really know." She shrugged, placed her hands on her hips. "Probably a school legend, everyone's talking about it now. It's like, some kind of hot issue right now."

"Heeh," Nozomu frowned. "People these days still believe in that kind of thing?"

"They do." Tsubasa showed him a really wide grin. "That tree is suspicious. It even has a _shide_ on it, then that means the tree is somehow sacred, right? People won't just put a _shide_ on it without any reason. Now I'm excited!"

"What the?" Nozomu laughed. He grabbed his backpack and zipped his black jacket. He walks towards the door, slide the door open and someone bumped at him. He lowered his head and saw the class representative, rubbing her forehead. "I'm sorry." He apologized quickly but when he extended his hand to make sure that she's okay, she quickly backs down and slapped his hand.

"O-oh, I'm sorry. Th-that's reflex—I didn't mean to…" She gasped, couldn't find her own pace to talk normally.

"Ah, uhm." Nozomu bowed his head a little and went out the room. "I'm sorry." He scratched his head when he and Tsubasa already stood in front of their shoe locker. "Maybe she hates me."

"Yeah?" Tsubasa closed her locker and starts to put her shoes on. "Why do you think that way?"

Nozomu shrugged. "I don't know." He answered. "It's just the feeling I get."

They walked side by side out of the building, chatting about the same topic Nozomu just started and it's because somehow Tsubasa still wouldn't give up about that.

"Do you like her? Tell me Nozomu!" Tsubasa asked, half-laughing.

"I didn't say that." Nozomu raised his eyebrow. "I'm just wondering why she acted that way. I mean, if I did something I shouldn't—well, I do that kinda thing quite often but she should've just tell me straight to my face—"

Suddenly when a petal of cherry blossom brushed against his cheek, Nozomu stopped. A blitz of eerie aura caught him off guard. He looked at the falling petals and lifted up his head fast. It was the cherry tree with _shide_ on it. Nozomu narrowed his eyes, but he couldn't see anything out of ordinary.

"What is it, Nozomu?"

Tsubasa's voice dissolved him from what he's thinking. He stared at Tsubasa and smiled. "Oh, sorry." He said. "What was it?"

"Geez, you weren't listening to me at all, were you?" Tsubasa sighed. "What are you looking at? You look kind of creepy."

"Creepy? How?"

"I don't know, it's just because you were looking at the cherry tree as if you're looking at something that shouldn't be there." She clears her throat. "You understand what I mean, right?" She grinned.

"No, I don't." Nozomu furrowed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, just nevermind. Are you going to Narumi-san's place?"

Nozomu nodded shortly. They started to walk back home and they turned left at the first intercepts. Nozomu tucked his hands inside his jacket's pocket when a cold breeze blows while Tsubasa tightened her red muffler around her neck.

"You know," Tsubasa started after a little while of silence. "you should go home sometimes. I didn't say it has to be every week or month or anything, it's just—you should go back home every now and then…"

"Why do you have to worry about that kind of thing?"

"I'm not worried at all." A white skim went out of Tsubasa's mouth when she denied it. "Well, but maybe your dad is…"

"Why are you bringing up my dad here?"

"You know what," she sighed. "just forget about it."

No one said anything after that. They just walked in silence, passes the big billboard and a few blocks of residence. Their feet stopped in front of a tall, some kind of western-style old building in the middle of the town, surrounded by new buildings.

The building has a small sign, _Narumi Detective Agency_. Nozomu pushed the door and behind the desk filled with high-piling paper and binders, a woman around 20-year old sat there with a cigarette between her lips and newspaper on her hand. When she spotted Narumi and Tsubasa she unfolded her newspaper and grinned. "Well, who do we have here? Tsubasa-chan!"

Tsubasa smiled politely at her and bowed her head a little. "Good afternoon, Narumi-san."

"It is so good to have you here. I'm getting sick looking at Nozomu everyday."

"Oi, oi." Nozomu interrupted, but Narumi just smirked at him. Narumi glanced at the other side of the room when a black cat with green eyes walked down the stairs. The cat stared at him while Nozomu just stared back at it blankly.

The black cat sighed. "Did you come to school today?"

"I did." Nozomu rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Did you have a good afternoon sleep, Gou-jiisan?"

Gouji narrowed its green eyes. "Kind of. What about you? You weren't asleep for nearly three days."

"Oh, yeah." Nozomu covered his eyes with his arm and lay down on the couch. "Anything new from the Yatagarasu?"

"…Nothing much." Gouji moved closer to Nozomu. "We've completed the task successfully without any flaw. The Yatagarasu will handle the rest. How are you feeling, Raidou Kuzunoha XVI?"

"Awesome." Nozomu rolled his body. "Good night."

Gouji sighed. _That kid didn't get any sleep for three days long and he still come to school. I'm kind of impressed._ "Won't you come to your house to inform your grandfather about the success of your first mission as a Raidou?"

"Nah… I'll do that later. And I get the feeling that the Herald of Yatagarasu told him already." He turned to Gouji. "He is Raidou Kuzunoha XV, remember? The son of the great Raidou Kuzunoha XIV."

"That makes you," Gouji smiled before continued. "The great Raidou Kuzunoha XIV's great-grandson."

**Note: **This is just the prologue, but I'd love to have a review or two. Enjoy!


	2. The Determination of Raidou Kuzunoha XVI

_**CHAPTER 1 **_

_**THE DETERMINATION OF RAIDOU KUZUNOHA XVI**_

_All that I can see is darkness. I'm scared yet I couldn't move even one finger. It is as if my leg is nailed to the ground, trembling in fear, scared to death. I want to run away but then I realized that, I stumbled upon something called destiny. I'm stuck, I couldn't move and I couldn't back away. That was something that I will not forget for my entire life, the fear that I felt back then, or the fear that I'm feeling at this point. _

_I admit it; it is a fact that what I'm feeling right now is fear—but then what? What else can I do even after I admit the feeling that lingers inside me, exist within a hidden portion—the portion that I hide and trying to deny. I closed my eyes, and all I can see is darkness. I thought that it was normal, but the darkness is still there even when I decided to open my eyelids._

_The sky, the star, the moon, even the sun—they no longer look pretty. I was cursed with this feeling of helplessness and loneliness that resides in my eyes. Was that fear? It was indeed a feeling of fear. _

"_You are our only hope. The only one, who can bear the name of the next Raidou Kuzunoha in line with pride."_

_The intense coldness in his eyes was real. That was the first moment when I knew—I'm scared. Not just because of the destiny that I must bear, but most likely to him. To the man who claimed himself as my father. I still remember the feeling of my own hands, clenching on my knees and I do still remember the feeling when a cold sweat running down on my neck. He was looking at me, expressionless, with his mouth closed waiting for my response. My mouth was closed too, not because I'm thinking about what I should say to respond to him, it was actually because I was paralyzed in fear. He didn't budge even one inch, and so do I. Because of fear?_

_Once again, yes. _

_I nodded, said nothing and he decided to leave, knowing that neither of us have anything important to talk about. Deep down, I was thankful, knowing that I don't have anything to do with him anymore at that time. From that moment on, all I could see is darkness. Nothing else, neither gray nor light. I could feel a huge void, growing inside me, yet I forced my mouth and mind to say nothing. To pretend that it is not there and to deny its existence. All that I could think about is running, away from him._

"Oh, you are awake?"

Nozomu rubbed his eyes, slowly, even with his eyes closed. A woman's voice touched his hearing, and he got no choice but to actually open his two eyelids and sits up on the couch, turned his eyes at her, who is now stared back at him behind the newspaper that covered almost half of her face.

"Morning, Narumi-san." Nozomu said, smiled a little at her but she didn't respond to his awkward smile, the smile that people shows right after they woke up from a deep sleep. Narumi folded her newspaper and put it somewhere random on her desk, just to make it disappear from her view. Nozomu glanced at the wall, to the clock to be exact, and he raised an eyebrow. "Oh, is this past midnight?"

"Yeah." Narumi chuckled, opened one folder of her case file. "Did you have a nightmare or something?" She fixed her glasses' position, stared at Nozomu intently without looking at anything else, but straight at his eyes.

"Nightmare," Nozomu muttered, unsure if he did have a bad dream. More than a bad dream, it was maybe something from his memory. It really _did_ happen before, right in front of his eyes and even if he tries to forget, he couldn't. Even just remembering it, his legs feels unsteady because he kept trembling. Nozomu lie his body back to the couch with one hand covered his eyes, thinking. "I can't remember if that was a nightmare or not."

That was indeed, a lie.

Narumi sighed; half chuckled when she heard Nozomu's answer. "I see." She said finally, returned the case file on her hand back to its pile and grabbed another case file, studying it. The only sound they can hear is the ticking sound of the clock; both were absorbed in their own thought. A completely different one but that wasn't really a problem.

The bell rang suddenly; both Nozomu and Narumi exchanged a glance. "That was unusual." Nozomu said and Narumi nodded. Nozomu gets up from the couch and walked towards the front door, he hesitated for a moment, glanced at Narumi and when he saw her nodding her head, he finally removed the key and turned the knob.

A middle-aged woman stood in front of the door, she seems run out of breath. In fact, she looked like she's about to faint, that's why Nozomu lead her way to the room, lending her one of his arm. Right now, nothing else can be heard except for the ticking clock and the sound of the woman gasping, trying to catch her unsteady breath.

Nozomu decided to make a hot green tea, hoping that would calm the woman a little bit, and placed the glass on the table. That was no use though, considering the fact that the woman didn't even glance at the table. "My daughter—my daughter went missing." The woman said finally, after calmed down a little, still haven't touch the tea yet. "She… went missing… after school…"

"Calm down." Narumi said, but the woman didn't even try to listen.

"She went home… from school, but… then she went… somewhere… she didn't come home until now." Now, she burst to tears, sobbing.

"Now, do you have a picture of her? Did you contact the police?"

"I did! I contacted the police… but they said that it's just normal for a teenager girl to run away from home for one… or two nights… I know she won't do something like that! She's a sweet… honor student of her school! She will never do… I know it inside my heart… something is wrong! Something is going on… I'm sure of it… or else…" she paused, run out of breath. "I… I…"

She took out something from her purse and showed a picture of her daughter. Nozomu narrowed her eyes to recognize the entity that pictured inside the photograph—she seems familiar. "Is that," he said after a long pause. "the class rep?"

"Yes!" the woman shouted as if she just remembered something important, grabbed Nozomu by his arms. "She is… she is a class representative! Please, please… are you her friend? Please find her… please… I beg you—".

"NOZOMU!" Tsubasa suddenly shows up in front of Narumi's front door, shouting Nozomu's name right after she stepped her foot inside. She spotted the middle-aged woman in the middle of the room and narrowed her eyes to identify her. "The class-rep is missing—huh? Aren't you Mrs. Takagi?"

"Yeah, don't worry. We've heard everything from her. Please calm down, now. Tsubasa-chan, could you tell us the detail?" Narumi tried to reassure Mrs. Takagi, who is now begin to cry again, and asked Tsubasa with a solemn face.

Hesitated for a moment, Tsubasa nodded. "The one who went missing is a girl named Mayuka Takagi, she is a class representative in Yumizuki High School. Her family claimed that she went home after school two days ago but then leaves afterwards, saying that she had some business to do. Until now, she still hasn't returned home or called her family about her whereabouts. It's been approximately 18 hours since she's reported missing. She is the class representative in me and Nozomu's class."

"I see." Said Narumi. She removed her glasses and stared at Mrs. Takagi, after that, Nozomu and Tsubasa. "I will try to see what I can do, for the time being, can I leave the rest to you guys?" Nozomu and Tsubasa nodded at almost the same time as a response, exchanged a glance to each other and dashed out from the front door. Narumi stared at their back as they slowly fade away from her sight. "…Be careful, kiddo."

Nozomu and Tsubasa were running side by side, running the empty street, with only filled with the unsteady light of the streets lamp. The chill air of January that brushed against their skin feels so cold, almost freezing. Even with his jacket on, Nozomu could feel the chill and just trying to run as fast as he can just to warm himself up. "What are you doing in the middle of the night like this?" Nozomu asked without looking at Tsubasa's face, focusing his eyes on the street.

A white breath came out of Tsubasa's mouth. "My dad is a police, remember? He informed me about the missing person and he thought that he could know something more about her because we were in the same class." She paused for a moment and currently running in a constant pace, without accelerating or slowing down. "and I told him about what I knew, after that I rushed to Narumi-san's place because I thought I could find you there and I did. You know the rest of the story; we are currently running, hoping that she will be okay."

_Find me?_

Nozomu said nothing and quietly bit his bottom lip. Again, absorbed by his own thought. The red-haired girl glanced instantly at him and turned her eyes back to the dark street, illuminated by the street lamp which lights almost fade away. "You see," Tsubasa decided to start a conversation between them. "I told my dad that I'm going to get you from Narumi-san's place, that's why he let me go. He told me to tell you that you should come to our house more often and I told him you were busy. My mother and my noisy brother and sisters also asked me the exact same thing, and I told them the exact same thing, of course. I don't want to bother you, knowing that you might be busy doing work for Narumi-san but just to let you know. Wait, you do remember my family, right?"

How could he forget, anyway? He will always remember Tsubasa's dad, a tall, tough-looking guy with a pair of perfect sharp eyes. He always wears a shirt with his sleeves rolled to his elbows. He also always brings at least one pack of cigarettes in his pocket, but he never showed or uses it when he went to attend Tsubasa's graduation day at the elementary school or the Sport Festival during middle school and even though Kato-ojisan looks somewhat scary, he was always so nice to Nozomu.

During middle school he wasn't only cheered for Tsubasa, her eldest daughter, but also Nozomu when he participated for 400 meter dash. Not only that, every year during Hanami season, New Year's, or even Christmas, Kato-ojisan and obasan kindly invited Nozomu to join their party with them and their kids, which not only consisted of Tsubasa but also her three younger siblings.

He was always in daze when either one of the Kato family members invited him to something, but then Tsubasa will always grab him by his hand and dragged him to join them. She 'dragged' him but deep down, he was always thankful. He was thankful that even though his father or another part of his family doesn't care about such trivial things, he got to spent so many precious moments with them. He was so happy to the point that if someday his father gave up on him, he will gladly become one of the Katos.

That was impossible, of course. It was just a mere dream he only occasionally think about when he's doing nothing. When he and Tsubasa got into senior high school, he only come visit the Katos during a few occasion, not as often as he used to. The reason is so obvious, though of course he couldn't tell them why.

And that was hurting him, actually.

"I see." Nozomu said, almost like he's not paying attention at all. He even hate the fact that he couldn't give her a better answer, it was all because he couldn't find any right words to say and that was just an excuse, he knows it better than anyone. Tsubasa didn't say anything afterwards about that though and nor did he.

"Remember when that old Abe-sensei scolded you in front of the class for being absent? Before he came, there is a crowd inside the call. They were talking about the legend that has been so popular in the school and the class-rep was somehow included too."

"The legend you were talking about," Nozomu paused, thinking for a minute before he continue. "what is it?"

"Ah, they say that if you pray in front of the big cherry blossom tree on the school ground at 2 AM, then your wish will come true, especially if it is related to love." Tsubasa took out her cell phone and opened the flap, checking the time. "It is currently 01.54 AM." She said, returned her cell phone back to her vest jacket's pocket.

"…You mean the cherry blossom with _shide_ on it?" Nozomu squinted and Tsubasa nodded in response. "Do you think the class-rep's disappearance has anything to do with the so-called legend about the tree?" He asked, gradually accelerate his speed of running.

"Uhm, I'm not 100 percent sure, but we don't have any clue other than that."

"I see." Nozomu muttered. He looked up the sky and found the white moon, hanging like a shining scythe. Somehow, he got some kind of odd feeling. He couldn't hear anything else other than their own sound, and the town seems too quiet to be considered normal. There's no sound of insects and there is no trace of even a single human being, not to mention the strange aura that has been hanging in the air for quite awhile now. "Hey, Tsubasa," Nozomu started. A pause again for a brief moment, and then he continue. "can I ask you a favor?"

"A favor?"

"Yeah. A really important one."

"There's no helping it." Tsubasa chuckled. "What is it?"

"Could you go get my Ojii-san?"

"Your grandfather? What for?" Tsubasa asked, couldn't figure what is the point of waking him out in the middle of the night like this, but yet Nozomu wouldn't answer why.

"Please." Nozomu asked, without turning around to look at Tsubasa.

Tsubasa's eyes widened when she heard Nozomu's voice rose. She stared at Nozomu's back, who is now running past her, and she couldn't catch up with his speed. She looked to the ground, staring at the road and her white sneakers. _Again_, she thought. Again, she doesn't even understand what Nozomu is thinking right now. Not only now, almost every time ever since that moment where Nozomu seems a little different.

She squint her eyes and releases a deep sigh, quietly to herself. Nozomu has never; ever talk to her about himself, about what his feeling is or what circumstances he is 's been by his side for quite a long time, but she still couldn't read or even guess what is in his mind. Little by little, they grew farther from each other, as if there is some kind of invisible wall between them. And she, even up until now, couldn't figure how, why or who built that kind of wall that separates them bit by bit.

"I understand." She said finally. Tsubasa stopped and turned back, followed with a pause. "Whatever you do, be careful, okay?" After saying that, she ran fast and disappeared inside the darkness.

Nozomu didn't say a thing and kept running even after Tsubasa is gone. "Goutou-jiisan, you are there, aren't you?"

A pair of glowing green eyes appeared from behind Nozomu's back. He glanced behind his shoulder and found a black cat with green eyes, following him from behind and nodding at him. "So you noticed." The cat said with a solemn expression. "I've been following you this whole time and I thought you didn't notice me at all because you didn't even glance at my direction when Tsubasa is with you."

"Wouldn't it seem strange if my cat is following me around?"

Goutou chuckled and glanced at Nozomu. "So," he said. " for what purpose you asked her to grab Ryuusai?"

A long pause.

"I thought if she's with Ojii-san, at least she will be safe. It will be safer there than being by my side." Nozomu answered. Goutou could see a hint of anger in Nozomu's eyes but he decided not to mention it. "I'm not mature or strong enough to confidently say I will protect her with all my life. I know that won't be enough to protect her. All because I'm not strong enough… and I couldn't convince myself the opposite way."

"Then all you have to do… is to get stronger." Goutou said quietly. "Get stronger… that way, you can protect those who you hold dear the most."

"…Yeah." Nozomu answered with a whisper. Their feet stopped right in front of the school gate. Nozomu narrowed his eyes and he could see some kind of invincible barrier surrounded the area. _The question is why would someone put on some barrier here, of all place?_

The barrier seems filled with heavy and dark aura. When he tries to reach out his hand to touch it, some kind of black static preventing him from going on through. Nozomu clenched his fist and teeth together. "Something must be going on inside."

"This barrier…" Goutou wander around the barrier a little. "it is only preventing someone with spiritual power to go through. We have to find a way to break the barrier or this won't go anywhere. Still, this doesn't explain anything about the girl's disappearance."

"It seems like we have to try to break it through force." Nozomu lifted up his head. "Yosh." He takes out a sling tube from his back side of spine, attached to his back side of his belt there is seven tubes in total, all filled with some kind of green-colored unknown liquid. He takes out two of the tubes and puts them between his fingertips.

"Come—Gozuki, Mezuki!"

In an instant, as if the green liquid inside went out of the sling tube because of Nozomu's order, a lime-colored light made an impact onto the ground. When the light cleared up, two horse-looking and ox-looking giant stood in right in front of Nozomu, carrying their huge weapons with both hands. "So what's up today, Raidou? My axe is longing for fresh blood because you hadn't summoned us for three days!" The ox-headed giant glared at Nozomu from his shoulder.

He roared impatiently while the horse-headed red giant shook his head. "My, my." The horse-headed giant releases a long sigh. "You are way too wild, Gozuki. So much like a brute, I should say." He glanced at Gozuki with a smirk on his face.

"Screw you, Mezuki." Gozuki switched his glare from Nozomu to the horse-headed giant. He snorted and back to Nozomu again. "So, eh, what now? Don't tell me you call us out without any good reason!"

"I got a reason." Nozomu smiled. "I need your brute strength to break that barrier." Nozomu lifted up his arm and pointed at the barrier in front of them all, which now filled with darkish aura more than before.

"Che, that is it? Boring." Gozuki grumbled.

"Very well then." Mezuki smiled. "Shall we, o' brute friend of mine?"

"Shut the hell up!" Gozuki yelled, but he then just look away, facing the barrier and starts twirling his huge axe. The storm-like wind began to surround them and with a loud roar, Gozuki and Mezuki charged through the barrier, pierced their sharp weapon against it. Nozomu holds his breath and clenching his palm as hard as he could.

…_Please!_

Followed with a breaking sound, the barrier scattered into pieces. "Easy! This is just a bowl of cake!" Gozuki grinned.

"You mean a piece." Mezuki corrected.

"Shut up! I won't get full if it's just a piece!" Gozuki said.

Nozomu narrowed his eyes, but he couldn't really see anything because inside the barrier, there's some kind of black mist that covered the school ground. "Let's go." Nozomu ordered. As they step forward, a heavy and terrifying aura stopped them. Nozomu's eyes widened as a white mist shows up in directly north from him. He bit his lips and started to clench his hands again. _Not good_, he thought. He could feel a cold sweat slowly running down his neck.

Goutou narrowed his eyes and lifted up his head to face Nozomu. "This presence… Get ready Nozo—" He gasped, couldn't even finish his sentence when the thick mist slowly fade away. A giant skeleton soldier with a huge bow on one of his hand sat on a white horse showed up right in front of their eyes.

Nozomu couldn't even blink when he saw _it_ coming at them. He froze at where he stood, couldn't move even one finger, not until Gozuki and Mezuki grabbed him by his arms and made a great loop to avoid the skeleton giant's arrow attack that was flying directly to his face. "What the hell are you doing? Do you want to die by standing there like an idiot?" Gozuki snapped at Nozomu and he then grumbled.

"Nozomu…" Goutou called and it is useless. Nozomu still couldn't get a hold of himself even though deep inside his mind, he kept repeating that he has to. "Sorry… But this is—too weird." He said finally. He loosened his clench and trying to stand steadily. He stared at Goutou, as if he's asking for forgiveness but Goutou just nodded.

"Right, considering the fact that today isn't a New Moon and that fiend—" Goutou squint his eyes at the skeleton giant. "White Rider, shows up, doesn't make any sense. And again, he seems really agitated with attacking you without offering any chance for negotiation. Something must've out of place."

White Rider raised his bow and starts pointing his arrow at them. Nozomu bit his bottom lip and made an evasion move to the front and with just a second difference; an arrow went flying from his bow to the ground where Nozomu used to stand. The ground left cracked when Nozomu ran to charge at him but in an instant, he got stopped by the White Rider's movement, which now pointing his arrow at his neck.

"Son of a man…" White Rider hissed. "Do you fear me?" He asked, looking at Nozomu with again, an intense coldness beneath his so-called skeleton eyes. Nozomu's eyes widened and without any warnings, White Rider releases his arrow at him. A loud and huge explosion-like white light covered them, didn't leave any space for any of them to scream each others' name.

Nozomu's body went flying two meters from where White Rider stood. The ground got cracked a bit when his body slammed the ground hard. He didn't lose consciousness, however. Instead, he clenched his palm and teeth together and starts to get up. He could feel a stench of blood coming from the corner of his lips.

_No, _he thought. _This isn't the time to feel scared._

He took a step forward but then he realized something. He narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, trying to say something but what's out from his mouth is a scream. "TAKAGIIII!" he screamed as he spotted his class-representative tightly bound by the cherry blossom tree's root in front of him, directly behind the White Rider's body. The White Rider's voice distracted him from his thought and interrupted his scream. His eyes widened in disbelief when the White Rider pointed his finger at him and a darkish aura gathered.

"Son of a man… You may die here… Mamudo!"

"Yoshitsune—Hassou Tobi!"

A big explosion of two great destructive power collided together made the ground covered again with a thick mist mixed with dust. Nozomu lifted up his head and his two retinas spotted an old man with a long, white beard stood near him. His two thick brows furrowed and completely hid his eyes. His hands were crossed in front of his chest, covered by an expensive cloth that made his _hakama_.

"You got beaten up quite bad, don't you, Nozomu?" the old man chuckled with a half-mocking tone in his voice. In front of them, stood Yoshitsune, the old man's loyal demon. His body was covered with a red steel armor and he got his katana sheathed after delivering eight blows in a single swing.

"Grandpa, why are you…?"

"You want to ask why I am here." Nozomu's grandpa snorted. "I came to rescue you because Tsubasa-chan was worried! Shouldn't you be at least a little grateful? 600 times massaging my shoulder would be fine, too. You think I came here for free, eh, my stupid grandson of mine?"

"Look who's talking." Nozomu muttered but he couldn't help laughing. His grandpa stared at him and throws something covered in a cloth at him. Nozomu looked at him, confused, but Nozomu's grandpa didn't say anything and move backwards.

"This must be your first time facing a fiend." He said and Nozomu nodded. "Take a look at the souvenir I brought you." Nozomu returned to the wrap-up gift his grandfather gave him, untied the red string and slowly remove the cloth. Nozomu couldn't believe his own eyes as he saw a sheathed sword rests there, and then he turned to his grandfather.

"Nozomu… this is a crucial moment—for you and for me. I'm getting old and I only have one person to be my successor, and it is you. Not my son, but you. Now listen," he turned his eyes from his grandson, trying to see what's under the thick mist that is now fade away and saw the White Rider without any scratch after Yoshitsune's attack. "You have been granted the name of Raidou Kuzunoha XVI, now show me. Show me what you, so-called successor of mine can do. All that I can see is your fear; you do not have the strength to even move, do you? You were paralyzed by your own fear, not by the enemy's force. You think you can humiliate me, and all Raidou Kuzunoha before you, more than this?"

Nozomu clenched his sword before him, it seems like could not do anything other than swallowing everything his grandfather said to him because he's staring at his feet, refused to look at his grandfather's face. The old man sighed, _maybe 17 were just too soon_, he thought. But then, he heard Nozomu's voice right after.

"What—I finally made up my mind a week ago and now you are complaining my performance? You want to say that I'm a failure because after a week from receive the title of Raidou Kuzunoha, I'm too afraid to even stand against a fiend-class demon? Aren't you just a little too late to say that, old man? You should've said it right before I went to the Demon Training Hall!

I know I couldn't use that as an excuse. It is lame; you don't even need to tell me that. But I… I just couldn't help it. Wasn't it you who said that feeling _fear_ made a human, human? Wasn't it you who told me that fear are needed so that no one would go above the line? Compared to you, I may look like a baby against an adult. But that doesn't necessary mean I'm giving up! If the feeling of my fear overcame me, wouldn't I run away already without a second thought?"

Now, the old man's eyes glued at Nozomu. He stared at him without even blink to search for something called _determination_ in his eyes and finally he found it. "Then show me," he said calmly as his massive spiritual power began to show. "show me your way as a Raidou Kuzunoha XVI. That is, if you really do think that you deserve that title upon your name—Nozomu Kurogane! That way, I will finally recognize you as my one and only successor."

Nozomu slowly stood up with his eyes filled with determination. His lips showed a trace of faint smile before he turned his back at his grandfather, steady and without any feeling of hesitation, he grabbed the sword. "You better watch closely, old man," he said without looking back. "because someday, this guy will surpass you and all Raidou Kuzunoha before you."

Nozomu's grandpa smirked. "For a brat, you sure talk big."

"It's not about being a brat; this is about being a man." Nozomu glanced at his grandfather for a bit then back to focusing his spiritual power as he unsheathed the sword in front of him. His fingers swiftly grabbed one of the sling tubes on his back hip and then release the green liquid inside from it.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"It is an honor to serve you." He heard a low-toned voice beside him. Nozomu slowly opened his eyes. The voice belonged to Tam Lin, who in legend described as a Scottish fairy knight who protected Carterhaugh. He pointed his spear at White Rider, ready to deliver a blow or two, but Nozomu interrupted him by patted him on his shoulder.

"… I have a request." He said.

Back to White Rider who stood in front of the cherry blossom tree. He didn't move at all, he even barely looks around. At one point, he looked up to the sky, as if he is searching or waiting for something to come.

A sudden, lightning-like strike stopped him. He glanced and swung his bow, distracted the strike's direction which then split it in to two strikes and hit the fence far behind him. Though from below his huge body, Nozomu swung his sword at him with all his strength. "… Useless…" White Rider hissed. He raised his bow and swung it to block Nozomu's sword.

He successfully blocked it, but Nozomu looked up at his face and smirked. "I won."

He didn't anticipate the possibility that those two attacks were just a decoy to keep him busy. Tam Lin jumped and raised his spear, pointing it directly to White Rider's head. In an instant, he pierced through White Rider's head. White Rider groaned in pain and terror, that is when Tam Lin pulled his spear and with Nozomu, he retreated.

White Rider still groaning as Nozomu and Tam Lin watched him from a distance. He started cursing and staring at them filled with hatred and anger. "Die… you son of a human… I curse you! I curse y—"

A sudden light came from above the sky and with a loud noise of cracking ground, it landed between White Rider and Nozomu. Nozomu's eyes widened as the dust cleared. The figure turned out to be a girl, wielding an axe that's about ten times bigger than her own body, smirking. She had a short blond hair, a pair of silver dreamy eyes which made her looks like she's spacing out and a weird black outfit which resembles gothic style a lot.

_A reinforcement?_, Nozomu thought quickly.

"Ash-sama… Ashtoreth-sama… Please kill him… kill him…" White Rider extended his hand, desperately trying to reach the girl. The girl didn't respond but when White Rider's hand almost touched her left arm, all of a sudden and mercilessly, she swung her giant axe at him which cleaved him in to half with just one strike.

"Wh—wha?" Nozomu, Tam Lin and Nozomu's Grandfather watched in disbelief and mostly, shock.

White Rider groaned and slowly turned in to dust before completely disappeared. "Don't touch me, you worm." The girl said in an oddly calm voice, she didn't even glance at White Rider's direction. She stared at Nozomu's group with her dreamy eyes without even blinking and slowly raised her arm, at first pointing her index finger at Nozomu but then her finger's direction swiftly moved to Nozomu's Grandfather. "You are next, Raidou Kuzunoha V."

In an instant, she disappeared from their sight and when they realized it she already swung her axe at Nozomu's Grandfather, which got blocked by his sword's sheath. Despite her little body and giant axe, she moved so fast to the point that none of Nozomu's group could catch her speed by their eyes. The girl stared at him expressionlessly and when their eyes met, she pushed her axe towards him harder and made him got pushed in to the air.

"Grandfatherrrrrr!" Nozomu screamed as his grandfather's body got thrown but he then sighed when at almost the same time, another figure with long silver hair appeared and caught his grandfather in time from behind. It was Leanan Sidhe.

"Hmph." Nozomu's Grandfather snorted. "For a kid you are not bad at all." He said as Leanan Sidhe carefully put him down to the ground. He unsheathed his sword, but Nozomu already pointing his blade at the girl. His grandfather and Goutou's eyes widened. "Nozo—don't!"

The girl blocked Nozomu's attack without even moving from where she stood. Her eyes still glued at Nozomu's grandfather. Nozomu clenched his teeth, still trying to push down the girl. "Move." The girl said in a flat tone without even looking at his direction. "I have no business with you."

"You do have a business with me! I'm Raidou Kuzunoha XVI!" Nozomu claimed as their weapon clashed. For a slight second, the blond girl's eyes widened, but then they came back to their previous state in no time. She still stared at Nozomu's grandfather with the same flat expression but this time she opened her mouth.

"I see…" she said, then she raised her head and glanced at Nozomu from the corner of her eyes, pierced him with a cold stare filled with killing intent. Nozomu's eyes widened as he saw her like that. She then summoned a massive spiritual aura which pushed Nozomu away from her and made him hit the ground, she didn't even leave him a space to react or anticipate her move at all.

She raised her axe and ready to swing it down at Nozomu but Nozomu's grandfather's voice interrupted her action. "Burn them to death, be my sword and my shield—Cerberus!" A white, giant dog with lion-like mane appeared from Nozomu's grandfather tube and releases a great fire-element attack at the girl which pushed her a few meters back.

Tam Lin grabbed Nozomu by the arm and brought him away from there. The girl slashed the fire that covered her and walked out from it, unharmed. Nozomu's grandfather narrowed his eyes and asked her: "Who are you?"

The girl rested her axe on her right shoulder. "I am Ashtoreth Ishtar, one of the Great Eleven King of The Underworld."

"Your objection?" Nozomu's grandfather asked with cautious.

She didn't answer, but after a while, she raised her arm and pointed at the sky. Nozomu's grandfather followed at her finger's direction and gasped when he realized a huge and black hole which darker than the night sky formed above the big cherry blossom where Mayuka Takagi was tightly bonded, not anymore because at the time when the girl was busy with Nozomu's grandfather, Nozomu freed her with cutting down all the roots that held her though the girl doesn't seem to care about it.

Nozomu bit his bottom lip and held Mayuka Takagi tightly in his arms as the black hole starts sucking down the cherry tree's life force. Strangely, the cherry tree bloomed and their white-colored petals scattered by the strong wind. "I'm done here." Ashtoreth said when the cherry tree's petals starts to cover her as if they were about to take her away with them. "… The next time we meet, that will be your last day to live, Raidou Kuzunoha V and—" she paused and glanced at Nozomu. "you, worm."

After she finished her sentences, she disappeared into thin air, along with the scattered cherry blossom's petals. They all sunk in silence before Leanan Sidhe spoke. "It seems like she's gone." She said then turned at Mayuka Takagi. "This girl, she got much of her life force sucked, most likely by the cherry tree. But I still can handle it."

Nozomu's grandfather unsheathed his sword and turned to them. "Please do what you can."

"Understood." Leanan Sidhe softly and carefully placed her hands about two inches from Mayuka Takagi's face, summoned her spiritual power and casts a healing spell after Nozomu slowly rested her on the ground.

Nozomu clenched his hands and lifted his face up to look at his grandfather's pensive face. "Grandfather, that was..."

His grandfather gave him a quick glance before he spoke. "We need to start an investigation about this matter. I'm going to inform the rest of the Kuzunoha clans and during this period, I want you to stay at Narumi's place until you hear further notice. Nozomu, don't do anything reckless without my permission. You got that? Don't send Leanan Sidhe away if I told her to watch over you like you did earlier. Goutou-Douji, can I ask you to stay with Nozomu to monitor him for the time being?"

Goutou nodded at his request and walked towards Nozomu. Nozomu didn't say anything, he keep staring at his own feet. "Come on, Nozomu…" Goutou called. "Looks like Leanan Sidhe is finished treating her, we should bring her back to Narumi Detective Agency and explain the situation to Narumi."

Nozomu nodded without saying a word and placed Mayuka Takagi on his back. They walked out the school but before they walk past the gate, Goutou glanced at the cherry tree. _The Great Eleven King of The Underworld_, he recalled Ashtoreth's word from earlier. _Who could they be?_


End file.
